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| I saved these two pieces by Robin Livingstone, and I am glad I did as their original source links are now defunct (if anyone has any viable links, please let me know). I also had them on a blog which packed up and left me without warning as well, so this is why I archive whole articles. Robin is an editor at Andersonstown News in Belfast. He has a biting wit and sarcastic view of life which I find hilarious. He frequently writes under the guise of 'Squinter'. I've posted this once before, but something Jadiem wrote reminded me of it. NIGHT AND DAY IN YOUR PJs 12 July 2003 Squinter The time has come the walrus said, to talk of many things, of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings... And much as Squinter has tried to put it off, much as he has wrestled with his conscience over the advisability of bringing this particular topic on to a public stage, the day was always going to come when the truth would have to be told, and it is this: women in Ballymurphy/Turf Lodge don’t get dressed any more. Now that doesn’t mean that they run about naked, or in their underwear. No, it means that they spend all day in their pyjamas. Nothing wrong with that, the cry goes up, everyone dosses about the house in their PJs occasionally, which is undeniably so. But we’re not talking about a lazy day off here, or an extended lie-in. Squinter was in Turf Lodge one afternoon last week – around 2.45pm, it was. And in one stretch of road he saw seven women going about their daily business in their pyjamas. Not standing at the door talking to the neighbour, not nipping out to pick up the milk – actually doing the everyday things that normally require a person to get dressed. Two women were walking through Norglen Gardens, proceeding to who knows where with that peculiar shuffle that fluffy mules necessitate. Both sets of pyjamas were pink, silk(y) and baggy, both twentysomethings had blonde hair and big golden hoops in their ears, both had their arms folded with a ten-deck of Regal tucked in their armpits. Inside a nearby newsagents another two women – one in her twenties the other perhaps 40 – were picking up a few items: the older woman browsing for a newspaper, the younger buying crisps and chewing-gum. Again, the pyjamas were silk(y) and baggy – one pair pink, the other yellow. Both had fluffy mules, big earrings and cigarettes. Squinter was considering the import of all this when across the street another of the pyjama women hailed a black taxi and climbed in, which seemed much more shocking because she was leaving a district in which her mode of (un)dress was the order of the day to travel to another part of the city – the city centre, for all Squinter knew. Because it's his job, Squinter has been making inquiries since he stumbled on this modern wonder and it appears that the phenomenon is not confined to Turf Lodge/Ballymurphy, although that would seem to be the epicentre of it. Pyjama Women are also to be seen, Squinter's assured, roaming the lower Falls. Just as Margaret Mead's landmark 'Coming of Age in Samoa' redefined the science of anthropology, so Squinter's forthcoming 'Night and Day: Getting Up in Turf Lodge' is expected to send shockwaves through the staid community of people-watchers. A learned German professor has been engaged as co-author and he has already visited the area twice. 'Ziss is very interestink & a fine example of vot ve in ze business call 'Counter-Clothing Syndrome.' And it is not, as some people beleef, nihilistic or negative. On ze contrary, ze women in pyjamas zat I haff seen wear haff put on ze make-up and wear lots of rings und necklaces. In ze summer time zey haff sometimes even got shorts instead of ze long bottoms.' _______________ Pyjama-mamas on fashion frontier Squinter 8 June 2007 Originally from Irelandclick Squinter wonders how many of the mothers of the super-smicks featured guzzling al fresco in Monday’s Andersonstown were sitting on the sofa in their jimjams watching Big Brother when their little dears were out roaming the street like packs of hyenas. Quite a few, you have to think. Not that every woman who leaves junior to school in her satin pyjamas and a pair of pink fluffy mules is a bad parent, it’s just that it would appear to be self-evident that women who don’t bother getting dressed are going to find it that wee bit harder to drive home the message to their children that a little self-respect and dignity goes a long way in life. Children tend not to work that out for themselves until way past P3. Squinter’s with Joe McGuinness, headmaster of St Matthew’s in the Short Strand, who wrote in the school bulletin about the reservations he has concerning mothers dropping off and picking up their children in pyjamas (the mothers, that is, not the children; although it can only be a matter of time before they don’t bother dressing their children either). We’ve received a big number of texts on the subject, some of them in the paper today. A few have a go at Joe, far more back him up. Which is probably an accurate reflection of where society stands on the issue of women going about all day in the synthetic top and trousers that they spent the night in particularly a hot night in August wearing a pound shop made-in-Taiwan, avoid-naked-flame special. Squinter has learned from an impeccable source (bloke down the pub) that not all pyjama-mamas are wearing garments that are a little bit manky. It seems that some of the more discerning mums will change into another set of pyjamas if they detect a bit of a pong as they head out the door, or if the sweat is conducting the static electricity to an extent that endangers the life of parent, child, or both. Not freshly laundered pyjamas, obviously – that would be too much work. Rather, they hoke about for a bit in the Ali-Baba basket until they find a pair from last week that don’t stand up on their own. Quick squirt of Charlie and you’re out the door. Sorted. Meanwhile, Squinter has been doing a little research on the subject in order to gauge whether pyjama-mamas are indeed part of the fabric of the community, and if so, whether they’re Egyptian cotton or polymerised acrylonitrile. Out and about, he asked a representative sample of 50 pyjama-mamas whether they routinely wear scrim-scrams to the following locations.. Hairdressers: 99% say yes, 1% say what’s a hairdressers? Pub: 25% say yes, 75% per cent say only if the place sells WKD Church: 10% say yes, 90% say it would be a sacrilege and a housecoat would definitely be worn on top School: 50% say yes, 45% say a definite no, 10% say they’re keen for their kids to get a good education Shop: 95% say yes, 5% say only when the hole in the wall is paying out double Taxi/bus: 40% say yes, 60% say not until the DLA car is taken away Work: (n/a) Dole office: 99.999% say yes, .001% say only once a fortnight |
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